Port Gentil News

At least 30 commercial ships dropped anchor on Wednesday around Gabon's waters after military officers said they had seized power in the Central African country, according to data and maritime sources.Military officers in oil-producing Gabon said they had put President Ali Bongo under house arrest, after the country's election body announced that he had won a third term.

Gabon's transport minister stepped down on Thursday, the presidency said, one week after more than 20 people were killed in a ferry accident that sparked outrage across the West African nation.The presidency's statement did not say why Brice Paillat handed in his notice.But it followed widespread calls for his resignation over the sinking of the Esther Miracle ferry close to the coastal village of Nyonie on March 9.The boat was carrying 161 passengers from Libreville to Port-Gentil…

Search teams in Gabon have recovered the dead bodies of 15 passengers of a ferry that sank off the West African country's coast last week, bringing the provisional death toll up to 21, the coordinator of rescue operations said on Tuesday.The Esther Miracle ferry was carrying 161 passengers from Libreville to Port-Gentil when it sank close to the coastal village of Nyonie on March 9.Authorities confirmed six deaths on Monday and were still searching for 31 missing people. Air force…

Anglo-French oil company Perenco has declared force majeure for 150 days following a leak at its Cap Lopez oil terminal in Gabon last week, a company spokesperson said on Friday.Overall production shut down is estimated at 50,000 barrels of oil per day, the spokesman said.The company expects production to restart within weeks, but with reduced storage capacity. The terminal normally receives 130,000 barrels of oil per day."We are temporarily re-routing production to the Oguendjo Terminal…

Anglo-French oil company Perenco has shut its Cap Lopez oil terminal near Port Gentil in Gabon after a storage tank leaked more than 300,000 barrels of oil, it said in a statement.The oil, which amounts to more than Gabon's daily crude output, leaked into retention tanks on Thursday and did not spill into the surrounding area, the company said.The cause of the spill was not yet clear and Perenco has opened an investigation. Reuters was unable to reach the site on Saturday."A situation of force majeure has been declared…

KOTUG International B.V. (KOTUG) won a long-term contract by Perenco Oil & Gas Gabon S.A. (Perenco) to provide towage support for their operations off Port Gentil, Gabon. The contract includes the chartering, operation and manning of three vessels, two of which are Kotug’s first-ever Rotor Tugs, the RT Magic and RT Spirit.RT Magic and RT Spirit will set sail to Gabon to support Perenco Oil & Gas in optimizing their marine spread thereby providing cost savings  simultaneously with redundancy in operations.

Pirates off Nigeria's coast kidnapped 15 sailors from a Turkish container ship in the Gulf of Guinea on Saturday in a brazen and violent attack that was farther from shore than usual.One sailor was killed in the raid, an Azerbaijani citizen, while those kidnapped are from Turkey, according to the respective governments and a crew list seen by Reuters.Accounts from crew, family members and security sources described a sophisticated and well-orchestrated attack on Saturday in which armed pirates boarded the ship and breached its protective citadel…

The CMA CGM Group, a leader in maritime transport, announced the start of its commercial operations at the Kribi Container Terminal. On this occasion, the CMA CGM BIANCA, 8721 TEUs and 335 meters long, became the largest container ship to call in Cameroon on 2 March 2018. The CMA CGM Group is deploying four new weekly direct services in Kribi to northern Europe, the Mediterranean and Asia. West Feeder Service, connecting Kribi, Port Gentil, Boma, Matadi and Libreville. Thanks to its strategic positioning, the Kribi hub will also significantly reduce transit times. Located in Cameroon, a growing market, the Kribi terminal aims to act…

In a continued effort to provide increased reliability and quality service in a challenging environment, CMA CGM Group is strengthening its coverage of Europe to West Africa with the addition of the direct call in Cameroon on its EURAF 5 service and the EURAF 4 service upgrade connecting Europe to West Africa strategic markets. Direct service from North Europe to Douala with a fortnightly frequency combined with a shortened transit time by 7 days. Therefore, it is one of the best transit time on the market with Douala from Antwerp in 28 days and from Le Havre in 29 days. Our exporters in Douala will benefit from a very fast and direct transit time to North Europe: Northern France will be reached in 16 days, Antwerp in 17 days.

Container shipper CMA CGM has changed the rotation of its WAX service operated with 13 vessels up to 4,350 TEU on the Asia-West and South Africa trade. As from April 11, 2016 when m/v BERMUDA begins her rotation in Pusan, the Pusan port call will be transferred from WAX 3 onto WAX service. According to CMA CGM, the move will allow it to be the unique carrier on the market offering a broad range of direct services from Korea to Benin, Cameroon and Namibia in addition to the current service to Nigeria and South Africa.

Worldwide shipping firm the CMA CGM Group announced plans to upgrade its services joining Europe to Africa, altering its EURAF 1, EURAF 2 and EURAF 4 services with the goal of providing a more complete service offering to Africa, North Europe and the Mediterranean. The EURAF 1 service, that connects North European to West African markets, will add a call at London Containers Terminal – Tilbury each week. This new call will directly join the United Kingdom to Africa, and the service will provide competitive transit times allowing the export of banana Reefer containers from West Africa to England. The inaugural call of the rotation in Tilbury took place on August 10. Algeciras used to be called only once on the previous rotation.

The CMA CGM Group announced changes to its African service, upgrading its EURAF 4 service to directly connect West Africa to the West Mediterranean markets each week starting July 18, the group announced. Up until now, the EURAF 4 service has been calling the following ports: Tangiers, Lome, Cotonou, Port Gentil, Libreville, Lome and Tangiers. The service upgrade will see added calls in Italy, France, Malta and Spain. Starting July 18, two vessels will be added to the EURAF 4 service so that a total of seven vessels between 2…

CMA-CGM issued an announcement stating it will implement surcharges for all cargo due to port congestion in West Africa. “Considering the deterioration of shipping operations in Douala (Cameroon), Port Gentil (Gabon) and Nouakchott (Mauritania), CMA CGM is implementing a Port Congestion Surcharge in June 2014,” the company said. cma-cgm.com

Suspected pirate vessel off Angola. Dryad Maritime - a UK-based maritime intelligence firm - says situation has not changed since yesterday. Dryad Maritime is warning of the possible hijack of a Liberian flagged tanker MT Kerala. The vessel, owned by Dynacom Tankers, has been reported as missing off the coast of Angola, having last been sighted seven nautical miles NNW of Luanda. The tanker’s disappearance may represent a significant extension of maritime crime emanating from the Gulf of Guinea region, most probably from Nigerian criminal gangs.

CMA CGM said it will introduce a new call in Takoradi (Ghana) on its PC South service designed to connect Libreville and Port Gentil ports in Gabon and Takoradi in Ghana to Europe, the Mediterranean, the Indian Subcontinent, the Middle East and North America via Tanger Med terminal. Pointe Noire call in Republic of Congo will serve the domestic market but will also serve as a hub for cargo from Asia to Takoradi. PC South new rotation will be effective January 4th, 2014, from Takoradi with MV PLUTO, voyage 4W061S.

The CMA CGM Group announced the reshuffling of its services from Europe and Med to West Africa which will allow the Group to adapt to the market and serve the heart of Africa by Through Bill of lading (TBL) to land lock countries. CMA CGM is pleased to announce the PC Weekly service improvement with the insertion of UK and Nigeria call in the rotation. The first voyage will start on December 14, 2013 with M/V Hammonia Antofagasta vge 8D001S. The first voyage will commence on December 13, 2013 with M/V Spero vge 8E001S.

The International Chamber of Commerce's International Maritime Bureau (IMB) has revealed that piracy on the world's seas is at its lowest third-quarter level since 2006, but warns of the threat of continuing violent attacks off the East and West coasts of Africa. The latest IMB Piracy Report, published today, shows 188 piracy incidents in the first nine months of 2013, down from 233 for the same period last year. Hostage-taking has also fallen markedly, with 266 people taken hostage this year, compared with 458 in the first three quarters of 2012. In the first nine months of 2013, IMB's global figures show pirates hijacked 10 vessels, fired at 17, and boarded 140. A further 21 attacks were thwarted. In total 266 crew were taken hostage and 34 kidnapped.

In August, the stern tube seals of a 67-meter, 2223 grt anchor handling vessel were replaced in Port Gentil by a Hydrex team of diver/technicians. The old seals were damaged and a fast repair was therefore necessary. The team carried out the entire operation on-site and underwater with one of the company’s flexible mobdocks. This saved the owner the time and money of an unscheduled trip to drydock. All Hydrex offices have fast response centers. These are equipped with the latest facilities, equipment and tools to increase speed of service.

Pirates have released a Turkish cargo ship with a crew of 24 Indians which they hijacked near Port Gentil off the coast of Gabon in West Africa last week, reports BBC News. Citing officials at Geden Lines, the Turkish company owning the MT Cotton the BBC report that the captain has been asked to move the ship at "fullest possible speed" from its present location at the Gulf of Guinea to a "safe port" in West Africa. It is unclear if a ransom demand was made by the pirates. The Indian crew of MT Cotton is safe and many of them have called home after their release, according to family members.

Hydrex reminds that their turnkey underwater repair solutions for shipowners can be done wherever and whenever they are needed. Hydrex’s multi-disciplinary team promises will help to find the best solution for any problem encountered with a vessel below the water line. They will immediately mobilize thier diver/technicians to carry out necessary repair work without the need to drydock. The company has a long track record of performing complex permanent underwater repairs to thrusters, propellers, rudders, stern tube seals and damaged or corroded hulls.

A welcoming ceremony was held for two newbuild vessels SL Gabon and SL Libreville at Port‐Gentil, Gabon on April 17. Among those attending the ceremony were the Minister Delegate of Transport Mr. Emmanuel Jean Didier Biye, the Governor of the Ogooué Maritime Province Mr. Martin Boguikouma, the Prefect of the Bendjè Department Mr. Joseph Mouele, Total Gabon Chief Executive Officer Mr. Benoît Chagué and Smit Lamnalco Chief Executive Officer Mr. Daan Koornneef. SL Gabon and SL Libreville have been contracted for a five year period by Total Gabon.

A Hydrex diver/technician team flew to Pointe-Noire, Congo to replace the stainless steel belt in a research ship's thruster tunnels. The stainless steel belt is installed around the perimeter of a thruster tunnel at the location of the thruster blades. There the impact of the cavitation caused by the movement of the blades is the most severe. Extra protection against cavitation damage is therefore essential. When the stainless steel belt in the thruster tunnel of the research vessel suffered cracks, the underlying steel was exposed to cavitation. The belt needed to be replaced as soon as possible to prevent the thruster tunnel from getting damaged too severely. The owner of the vessel would have had to take his vessel to drydock if no on-site solution was found.

Smit Lamnalco renewed its marine support services contract with oil major Shell in Gabon, a deal that has triggered investment in three auxiliary vessel newbuildings, according to the company. The five year contract renewal extends a relationship which dates back to the 1990s and covers support for Shell Gabon’s tanker operations at the remote Gamba Terminal, south of Port Gentil. “The trust Shell Gabon has in our services has sustained through the 2011 merger of Lamnalco and SMIT Terminals.” says Aart van der Wal, Managing Director Smit Lamnalco Africa. The renewal covers the deployment, crewing and management of four Smit Lamnalco support vessels, with three newbuilds ordered in mid-November to replace existing tonnage.